Daniel Kuhlman remembered as an entrepreneur, leader, mentor

GRAND FORKS — Daniel Kuhlman is known for building Acme Tools into the premier retailer of tools and equipment in the Upper Midwest, say those who worked with him and knew him best.

Kuhlman died Monday, Sept. 9, after battling lung cancer. He was 82.

Under his leadership as president for more than 50 years, Kuhlman expanded the family-owned company into a major industrial tool distributor, which includes 10 retail stores, a direct mail catalog division, and an internet sales division for online sales.

The company’s founder, Kuhlman’s father, George, started Acme Electric, an electric motor repair shop, in 1948 in a small storefront at 402 S. Third St. in Grand Forks. Daniel Kuhlman joined his father in 1962 as the eighth employee of the company, which now has more than 600 employees.

Contributed / ACME Tool company

Daniel and Marilyn Kuhlman have been generous supporters of the arts, social services, health initiatives, music education and the environment. A $500,000 gift from the Daniel and Marilyn Kuhlman Family Fund to build the Grand Forks Children’s Museum was announced earlier this week .

Blair Ihmels, general manager of Acme Tools in Bismarck, has worked for the company for more than 43 years. He started not long after college, he said, first as a salesman and later as a branch manager. He has continued to run the Bismarck store for 40 years.

“Danny, to me, was a mentor and teacher,” Ihmels said. “He had those qualities of being able to instruct you and help you figure out things on your own and make good decisions. He was a major influence for me.

“He was always a good person to work for and, as a family-run and operated business, it always felt that way even if you weren’t part of the family.”

The Bismarck store was the first established by the company outside of Grand Forks, Ihmels said. Later, retail stores were added in Fargo, Minot and Williston. The company has since added stores in Minnesota and Iowa, and is poised to open more in the future.

Ihmels credited Kuhlman with launching a subdivision, Acme Rents, in 1995, providing large equipment to customers. It became an important part of the business.

“That was his passion. He loved large equipment,” Ihmels said. “He loved finding equipment all over the country, and he would buy it and bring it in and fix it, and we’d rent it.

“He had great relationships with manufacturers, and they migrated to him because he was so knowledgeable, and he was growing exponentially and was able to do business with a lot of people.

“He developed business systems that no one else was doing, all over the country.”

The Acme Rents business fulfills the needs of construction entities and contractors who prefer to rent, rather than purchase, very costly equipment “for three or four months or maybe even a season,” which was a more economical way of conducting business, Ihmels said.

Rental businesses like this “are not so common anymore, but we’ve been able to maintain that through very competitive markets,” he said. “We’re still a family-run rental operation and a retail operation.”

Kuhlman “was always sensitive to what was going on in agriculture,” Ihmels said. In the Red River Valley, he was attentive to sugar beet and potato production, in terms of soil moisture and other conditions that affect crops.

“Danny worked hard and put a lot of hours in,” Ihmels recalled. “But he also enjoyed fishing, and spending time on the water, so that was a nice balance for him. And he shared that with a lot of his employees; we got to go fishing in Canada, which was one of his spots that he loved to go.”

Kuhlman’s sons, Steve and Paul Kuhlman, are co-presidents of the company. Steve started with the company full time in 1992, and Paul began working there full time one year later.

Steve Kuhlman characterized his father as someone who worked hard and played hard.

He was an entrepreneur who “built relationships with his employees and customers,” Steve Kuhlman said, and he was a mentor and leader.

Among the traits he passed on to his sons was “take care of your employees and customers, and they will take care of you,” Steve Kuhlman said.

His work ethic was exemplary, he said. “If employees are going to put in long hours, you need to lead by example and be along their side. If we have success, give credit to everyone.”

And “don’t hide from work,” he added.

Rahn Ford was hired by George Kuhlman when he was a UND student.

He started by helping with summertime tasks such as painting, lawn mowing and doing odd jobs, said Ford, who is the company’s senior buyer/new products manager.

“My own father passed away after the Flood (of ‘97), and Danny was almost kind of a dad then,” Ford said, noting that he relied on Kuhlman for advice when he lost his house to the flood and had to buy a new one.

“He was the boss, he was the owner, but, at least myself personally, I would have no problem going in and saying, ‘Hey, I need help with this.’ He was a great guy.”

Acme Tools grew, too, responding to the need for industrial tools that emerged as the federal government built Grand Forks Air Force Base in the 1950s.

As the business grew, Kuhlman also created a culture that supports and rewards employees, Ford said.

“He was very firm — I mean, if you did something, I’ll just say, wrong, you definitely knew about it. But, by the same token, he had no problem handing out pats on the back and things like that.

“He would go on fishing trips with us — just like, kind of one of the boys. He was just phenomenal.”

Dan’s father, George Kuhlman, “was a no-nonsense guy — I mean, ‘you work hard, you put in your time, you’re honest,’ and that kind of carried on to Danny,” said Ford, who would often hear, “Every person needs a rag in your back pocket at work, because it’s not above anybody to keep the store looking good.”

Kuhlman remained active in the business even into older age, Ford said. “He was here every day … still sharp as a tack.

“He was a great man to look up to — a very very great man to look up to.”